Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi, India had cancelled the deal with AgustaWestland for 12 helicopters in January, citing a breach of integrity related to alleged corruption. That was then. But twenty months after it started probe into the Rs.3,600-crore chopper scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is yet to file a chargesheet in the case, with the agency chief Ranjit Sinha telling a daily even he is not sure if it will be a final report or a chargesheet.
The daily has quoted a senior officer as saying it will not be surprising if the case is closed. According to reports, the agency has been awaiting the outcome of court proceedings in Italy, adding, it was yet to receive replies to the letters rogatory sent to some countries.
A few days back, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested businessman and lawyer Gautam Khaitan in the VVIP scam.
Khaitan had been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by the ED, which had lodged a case in July against him, former IAF chief S.P. Tyagi and 19 others in the helicoptor deal case.
The ED had searched two properties in Delhi belonging to Khaitan.
But, much before the ED, the CBI had filed an FIR against Tyagi and others in March 2013 for allegedly receiving kickbacks of Rs.360 crore. Khaitan had also been named as accused by the CBI.
The CBI had also quizzed former governors – E.S.L. Narasimhan, M.K. Narayanan and B.V. Wanchoo.
